04--26-16: Art Class with Fred

3:24pm

Time to toddle off to art class - I'm going to try to paint this. I like the old water mill. This would be someplace I'd like to hike. I think I'll put a little more red in the leaves though. Not sure yet as I don't know how it's going to turn out. Once I start painting it's as if the painting takes on a life of its own and I'm just trying to catch up with my paintbrush.

 

5:36pm

Art class was cut short today because the gallery café closed early. Fred taught me about gradient washes and how they can be used to paint skies, seas and trees. They will come in real handy when I attempt to paint the picture above. I hope I don't make a mess of it.

Watercolor Classes with Fred

I discovered Bible Journaling on Pinterest (under Mountain Sprite) and got hooked using watercolors. It inspired me to start taking watercolor classes with a professional artist in Banning. Fred is a wonderful teacher. This is my first watercolor. It's of the Point Pinos Lighthouse in Pacific Grove, CA. Eric and I went there for our 10-year anniversary and I took some photos.

 

 

The next piece is a pencil sketch of the Luther Mills Bridge in Bradford County.

 

This pencil sketch was me just goofing off.

 

And this is a watercolor of a koi pond. It's my second watercolor.

 

 

My First Original Acrylic Painting

I haven't completed this yet. It's a work in progress. I took some art lessons from Sharon Rachelle at her art studio in Yucaipa, but then we moved and I stopped going. I will need to pick them back up again.

This is a painting I was doing of our cabin in the fall. I was going to hang it over the mantle, but that all changed. Now I don't have the heart to keep working on it as the cabin is no longer my home. It belongs to someone else.

Acrylic Paint-by-Number Kits

These paintings were done over the course of three weeks. I found them very addicting. The only thing that was very disappointing was that I couldn't find any folk art paint-by-number kits. At the time I painted these I was going to do a nautical theme in the cabin or a cottage theme with nautical accessories. In the end we moved and now I'm going to do our new house with a prim décor so I won't be able to use them. I suppose I can hang them in my art studio.

 

This lighthouse was the first kit I did.

 

This one is called Café by the Sea. It was the second painting I did.

 

This one is called Cottages by the Sea. It was the third painting I did.

 

This one is called Moonlight Paradise. I changed a lot of the color scheme on it.

 

This one is called Lighthouse by Moonlight. I finished it but didn't take a picture that's why the lighthouse isn't complete. I'll upload one tomorrow.

 

I ordered this one thinking it was a Kinkade. Imagine my disappointment when it wasn't. I changed the color of the trees and flowers and the waves.

 

 I ordered a Kinkade from China which I am working on. You can't buy them in the U.S. I will post it when I'm finished with it. Right now it's too cold to paint in my craft room. I also ordered a Kinkade of a boat on a stormy sea. I love painting these because they are very relaxing for me.

Acrylic Painting: Lighthouse - June 2015

In June of 2015 I started painting with acrylics. This was my first piece. It was a paint by number kit but I made it my own. I had a lot of fun doing it and it was very relaxing so I ended up getting hooked and then did several other kits. I had hoped to hang them in the cabin, but then we moved and now they won't fit the décor of the new house.

As you can see in the photo above the picture was very drab. I wanted it to be more vibrant. I changed the color of the roof on the lighthouse and added flowers. The colors shown on the sample above were nothing like the colors in the tubes so I had to mix my own combinations. 

Santa's Journey: Day 9

So far most of today has been spent stitching in the tree. Whew! a lot of work and color changes. The ornaments add to the three dimensional look.




































I was off one stitch on the left side, and had to tear some out, but not as much as usual. I found the error fairly quickly.

Santa's Journey: Day 8

I finished the sled, completed the holly bush, and added the french knot berries. I also completed the cardinal pair. There were a lot of color changes in these birds, which always poses a problem for me when it comes to burying my threads on the back.




I stitched in Santa's beard and face. I left the eyes out though; it's just a quirk of mine. I always do the eyes last. I also stitched in the toy sack and Santa's hat. I stitched the gold cuff on the hand holding the base of the Christmas tree, and got a start on the tree as well. I stitched a lot of the shading on the left of the piece above Santa's shoulder. This area is where the tree will go.

Santa's Journey: Day 7

On the toe of the sock I was able to make some progress on the sled, and started the shadowing around it.

On the heel I completed the cardinal and the shadowing there as well

Santa's Journey: Day 6

I haven't been able to work on this for several days because of the holidays and babysitting but I managed to complete Santa's boots and pants, and I filled in the blue area and the pine garland to the right of the piece. I also started on the packages and the sled. I have noticed that the yellow package on the sample shows that there are stripes on this present, but the pattern does not indicate that. There is gold filiment thread on the garland and also on the ribbon of the red checkered present.

Santa's Journey: Day 5

I stitched into the wee hours of the morning and completed the coat and under garment on Santa's jacket. I started on his boots, and his pants. It was a very productive morning! I have to babysit today at 1:00pm so I don't know how much I can complete tonight.

Santa's Journey: Day 4

I stitched in the area to the upper left of the red checkered bag and filled in the trim on the edge of the jacket on the right.

Santa's Journey: Day 3

No babysitting today. I found that I made a mistake the last day I worked on the piece. I was one stitch off on the cream and tan colored part on the right so I had to tear that out and start over. I couldn't find where the mistake was and I counted it out several times; each time I found that I had the right number of stitches counting from the the brown trim to the right of the red plaid area. I finally discovered that I was one stitch off by working on the far left of the project, and working my way across to the right side. After tearing out the miscounted section I was able to continue on and stitch the outline of the edge of the coat on the far right of the piece.

Santa's Journey: Day 2

I had the day off, so I was able to stitch quite a lot. I hate working with that filament thread it's so difficult to keep straight and even.

Santa's Journey - Day 1

Today was the first day I started my stocking. I didn't get very far because I had to babysit the grandkids from 6:00AM until 8:00PM. It's pretty hard to stitch when you are taking care of a 2 1/2 year old and a 3 1/2 year old.

The thread in this kit was a better quality thread than the Bucilla kit I just finished.

Dimensions Kit #08752 - Santa's Journey

This is the stocking I decided to do for myself. Since everybody else had one I thought it should be my turn. I wanted to stitch a stocking that was all in shades of blue, but I couldn't find a Santa in those colors.

Bucilla Baby Sampler #45328

I ordered this kit through Wal-Mart online and had it shipped directly to the store so I avoided having to pay any shipping costs so the total of the kit was $10.97.
I must say that the quality of the floss is below standards and I am very disappointed in that, but I guess you get what you pay for.

Spring Sampler - Janlynn 023-0491

I'm working on this one right now. I've hit a stopping point because the pattern is missing a few lines so I'm having to stitch around it the hard way. I really can't complain because my girlfriend has given me copies of the pattern. So, until I can get the missing pieces I'm kind of at a standstill on this piece. I hope to be able to finish it before Easter but that may not be possible.

I did the Winter one in January of this Year.

I finished this one right before Halloween 2008.

I finished this one before the 4th of July last year.

My Favorite Cross Stitching Supplies

This is called an EZ Stitch stand. I have tried many stands, and spent hundreds of dollars on them but I find this the best one by far. It fits comfortably between your legs and you sit on the wooden bottom. I like it because it keeps my work close to me, and I can, very comfortably use both hands to pull the thread through on both sides of the fabric. The frame works fairly well. I don't stitch my cloth to the dowels like you can on some frames. I prefer to use cloth first aid tape to attatch my fabric. It doesn't leave any residue on the cloth, and it allows me to keep the fabric very taut.

I use a Daylight lamp with the separate floor stand. Once again it was a little pricey, but worth every penny. I find that the magnifying glass is extremely helpful in making those pesky 1/2 and 3/4 stitches. Also if my eyes get tired I can always use the magnifier to stitch the rest of the project I'm working on.
This LoRan Magnetic Board is a life saver in helping me keep track of where I am on my pattern. I also have the largest one which is very handy for those larger patterns. I have the magnifying line keeper but I don't like it as much as I do just using the plain magnets to keep my place. I use several to hold my pattern in place, and then I take one, and flip it over so the magnetic side is up, this allows for easy movement around the pattern without forcing the magnet, and it makes it very simple to keep track. I use the Pako Needle Holder to keep track of my needles and floss. It is very convenient because I don't have to constantly rethread, and change needles as often. It allows for 40 different needles with replaceable cardboard inserts where you can mark your pattern symbols to keep track of them. This also keeps me from using the armrest of my recliner as a pin cushion. I use the StitchBow Floss Organizer to keep all of my floss stored. It uses unique floss bobbins that don't stretch out your threads, and it keeps them in their original shape and condition. Unlike cardboard thread bobbins you can easily put your floss onto the bobbin without any winding. The convenient carrying case makes it easy to take your projects along with you wherever you go.